25- Vignette - Postt Reaper's Game
Faults
Some days it was just too much.
The green monster, which she thought she had completely vanquished, reared its head up again.
Shiki was ashamed. Ashamed of being so weak that she couldn't even push aside that monster to be happy for Eri.
But maybe she was partly to blame. The fashion workshop only had so many places, yet she had been so confident that she would be getting one.
It's my fault.
It was her fault that she wasn't good enough and it was her fault for expecting too much.
So she faked a smile. Even that wasn't good enough to fool anyone, especially not Eri. Her friend said nothing, though; she knew that speaking out wouldn't help.
She ran out of Eri's house, without even stopping to ask for an umbrella.
The rain crashed down on her and distorted her vision. She wasn't looking at where she wasn't going, so it didn't matter anyway.
She wasn't surprised to find she herself ending up in front of Neku's house. She was definitely surprised to see him waiting outside.
The phone in his hand told her Eri had called him.
Well, it was a good thing it was raining; at least he couldn't distinguish her tears from the rain.
She didn't want him to see her weak.
He stepped towards her. She stepped back.
Although his hair is flattened down, she could still see his eyes narrow.
He took another step towards her. She stayed where she was. He took another, and another, until he was standing just in front of her
His eyes burned into hers and she felt more tears spill out. She didn't want to see them, so she did the most logical thing to do and buried her face into his chest, hands curled against it.
She was hiding from his gaze, but at the same time, there was no point. He had already seen her at her weakest before - there was nothing left to hide.
The sound of her sobs were drowned out by the rain, but they were still there nevertheless.
Awkward arms surrounded her and Neku, too, said nothing.
He didn't need to.
His presence was enough for her.
An eternity passed, and they stayed there until the last drop had fallen.
It was then that she looked up at him. His mouth spoke no words, but his eyes told her secrets. Maybe he realised, because then he turned his eyes to the sky.
She followed his line of sight and her thoughts experienced a momentary insanity.
It's your fault.
It was his fault that the rain had stopped.
A/N: Tadaa! We're a quarter of the way through this collection. If I stick to my plan of making 100 chapters in total. Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers, followers and the people who have put this fic onto their favourites. I really appreciate all the support. 100+ reviews is pretty amazing, for me. Seriously, I love you all.
- Dina (17/5/2013)